


Something Wicked This Way Comes

by VeryImportantDemon



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dragons, Hearth and Blitz are dads, I could never leave them sad, M/M, Team Dynamics, chase space, parents who don't suck, team dads, there are some mentioned OCs, there's just dragons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 10:03:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12296874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeryImportantDemon/pseuds/VeryImportantDemon
Summary: Blitz decided that he very much did not like dragons. He very, very much did not like dragons. He agreed with Magnus that lindworms underestimated their power, so after the Mr. Alderman Incident Of Which They Would Never Speak, Blitz opted for calling them what they were - dragons. They were dragons, nasty things especially after what they'd done to Hearth. He could never see a dragon again and it would be too soon, but the Norns didn't have the same plan in mind.





	Something Wicked This Way Comes

Blitz decided that he very much did not like dragons. He very, very much did not like dragons. He agreed with Magnus that lindworms underestimated their power, so after the _Mr. Alderman Incident Of Which They Would Never Speak,_ Blitz opted for calling them what they were - dragons. They were dragons, nasty things especially after what they'd done to Hearth. He could never see a dragon again and it would be too soon, but the Norns didn't have the same plan in mind. 

"Breakfast!" Blitz called up the stairs. It was a crowded morning at the Chase Space for the two of them. They had at least 8 kids to look after, one of them fairly young. And by _fairly_ , Blitz meant _very_. The little girl was only five or six years old. One morning, Blitz - who was for some reason the early riser - had opened the door to let some air in and he'd found her there, sniffling. She smelt like a god, a goddess, someone royal, and she was sad. So, naturally... Blitz took her in. Her name was Helena, and she was definitley a demigod. And she was homeless, so they took her in. They could never, in good conscience, leave a kid on the streets. That wasn't what they were here for. They were here to care for every kid in need that came to their door. And she had actually come to their door. Her mother sent her, she told Blitz. She had to leave, so she sent her here. 

After that, little Helena became a constant in their little space. Nether Blitz nor Hearth minded, but she did start a trend that made him smile to this day. She called him Papa Blitz and referred to Hearth by spreading her fingers with her thumb on her forehead, removing it about an inch, and touching it again before making the sign for the letter H like she was saluting. The trend caught on quickly, and now most of the kids, even the ones who barely breezed through, called them trust. Blitz pretended to be annoyed at first, grumbling _we're not old enough to be parents_ to his husband in ASL while secretly being pleased. Hearth's ears turned pink the first time someone called him that. He wasn't very good at hiding his pleasure.

Almost moments after he called out the announcement of the meal, Helena appeared. She had taken over an old study of Randolph Chase's, content with the small space. She was still wearing her old pajamas, too big for her. Blitz smiled. The spatula still in his left hand, he held it parallel to body, fingers touching his inner elbow. He brought his right hand up, palm facing the ceiling and then himself as he pulled it to his chest. All of this he did without turning from the  stove where he was loading plates with pancakes. "Good morning, Papa," Helena hummed happily. Blitz hummed a little too, an old dwarven song he hardly remembered but could somehow contour the melody to. 

The little girl climbed into her seat, yawning a little. A few moments after her, the trickle of kids began. They didn't all come because Blitz counted five heads excluding his own, but he didn't mind. Some weren't fond of the company. He'd save their breakfast for them should they want it later. Guests at his table were twin siblings, two boys, all tanned skin and bones and premature wrinkles on their foreheads. One of them had come out as gay and the other simply wouldn't let his brother go alone. There were threee girls, one who had been separated from her family when they immigrated from Mexico. One was Norse, he knew, because she'd told him. A daughter of Thor, she said. The other's story he didn't know, but he knew he'd feed all of them. 

He passed plates to all of them before putting the spatula down and pulling syrup out of an open cabinet. He dropped the jar on the table before taking his own seat. "Pancakes good?" he asked. "I can whip up something else if y'all would like." He paused after that statement, wrinkling his nose as if he couldn't believe he'd said _y'all_ of things. He shrugged and picked up his fork anyway. "No, this is fine, _gracias_ ," one of the girls said. " _Mucho gracias_ , Papa." Blitz smiled a little again. "Anytime," he said, gesturing his fork.

They ate in relative silence until Helena spoke up. "Papa?" she chirped, tugging on his sleeve. She had gotten used to the action to get Hearth's attention so she instinctively did it to everyone. She signed _where's Papa H?_  

Blitz frowned. That was a good question. Hearth had still been completely unconscious that morning when he'd risen to eat breakfast, face down in a pillow and burrowed in blankets. "Still in bed, I think," he said. "More's on the stove if you want it and milk's in the fridge." He rose from the table, pushing his chair in before he traipsed up the stairs.

When they first decided to move in here, they'd selected a room on the third floor, in a room that used to be another of Randolph's studies. It was inactuality the one Magnus had found Randolph's journey in. Hearth liked the light from the skylight because it wasn't strong enough to petrify his husband but strong enough to afford him some light. Blitz had even rigged them up a mechanism where the click a button and slide a screen over it, moved it back, or opened the hatch entirely. They completely remodeled so except for the hatch, it didn't resemble the old room at all. Blitz's favorite part of their room was the bed. They had dragged it in from another hardly used bedroom, piling it high with sheets and blankets and pillows. For being a creature of the sun, Hearth definitley got cold easily. He was a cuddle monster and always had been. 

Blitz didn't bother knocking, entering anyway. The room was slightly different than it had been, but the difference was very slight. Instead of being buried under a pile of blankets, Hearth had freed himself from the mound of them and was spread-eagled on the bed, his pale skin shining with a thin sheen of sweat. Blitz frowned, concerned, starting to pick his way across the minefiled of pillows that littered their room to Hearth. He reached out and gently touched him on the shoulder. His eyes opened instantly and his hands shot in front of him, starting to sign. _Father, please, I didn't mean to, Andiron_... The name sign for Hearth's brother brought a pang to Blotz's heart, but seeing the look on his elf's face hurt more. He was grasping for straws, panicked, wild-eyed. His pale eyes were even a little glossy, like he was searching for something or someone that wasn't there.

He made the gesture for _calm down_ quickly, pressing his hands down. He tacked on Hearth's namesign at the end. He made three letter H with each hand, tapped the tips of his fingers together, then made his hands fists and tapped the right one fingers first on top of his left. I was a combination of the word cornerstone and the H for Hearth's name.   _Calm down. I am here. Calm down. You're okay._

The wildness in Hearth's eyes finally faded away after Blitz calmed him a little more. He took a seat on the bed as Hearth sat up, wiping sweat from his forehead. _What happened?_ Blitz signed _. Nightmare?_

Hearth shuddered for a moment before his hands started to flicker. _Yes. Bad dream. Dreamed... Dreamed of dragons. Not Father, but... Looked like Father._ Blitz heaved a sigh when Hearth confessed the nature of his dreams. Dragons. Great.

 _You don't look good_ , he signs back, and Hearth frowned a little. _Hot_ , he said. _And cold. Hot and cold_. He held the sides of his head with his hands for a beat. It wasn't a sign, just Hearth expressing his discomfort. Blitz's frown deepened. _I just told you_ , he said. _I know you're more powerful now, but you still can't be taxing yourself like this, my cornerstone_. 

Hearth hesitated, his hands falling to his lap like he couldn't think of anything else to say. _Why don't you go up to the roof_? Blitz suggested. _Get some sun. I got the kiddos for awhile. I'll knock on the hatch when I need you_. Hearth paused again, but he didn't put up much of a fight. Blitz leaned forward and cupped Hearth's face in his hands, planting a kiss on his lips. He watched as Hearth, unsteady on his feet, pressed a button on the remote next to the bed. There was a mechanical creaking noise and a ladder decended from the roof beside the hatch. Hearth made his way up it, Blitzen watching anxiously in case he fell. But he didn't, so Blitz took a step back and let him open it. Once the hatch was closed, Hearth blew Blitz a kiss, which made him smile, and disappeared. 

Blitz disappeared, too, heading back to the kitchen. The daughter of Thor had left, to where he did not know. "Did you find him?" Helena asked, swinging her legs. Blitz ruffled her hair as he passed. "He's not feeling well," he said. "He's going up to the roof for awhile." The little girl nodded. "Oh," she said. "Okay! As long as he'll be okay." Blitz smiled again. "Yeah, he'll be fine, kiddo. He always is, you know." 

He just hoped that was true. Blitz cleaned up breakfast except for the leftovers, which he covered with a paper towel and placed in the microwave just in case. He decided some tidying needed to be done around the house, so he started doing that with Helena's help. He still had an hour or so before he'd go down to Blitzen's Best with whoever would be working with him that day. He swept up the living room, passing the daughter of Thor and one of the twins in a conversation, their hands moving slowly in ASL. It was a simple one, a little broken, but they were practicing and Blitz smiled at that.  

The chores didn't take too terribly long, which Blitz liked. They took him right to when he needed to leave. "Who's coming today?" he called to the house. "Me!" the twins chorused in unison. "Me," the Hispanic girl called. "Can I come?" Helena asked. "No, I think you'd better stay here with Hearth, yeah?" When Blitz spoke his beloved's name, he signed it as well with the namesign Helena had given him. "He'll need someone to look after him if he's not well." 

Helena nodded seriously. "I remember the directions you gave me!" she said cheerily. "He's like a flower! Lots of sun and water." Blitz chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose so. I'll go check on him and then the rest of us can head out, yeah?" The three coming to the shop that day nodded. 

Blitz traipsed up the stairs again, leaving the kids in the living room. When he arrived in their bedroom, he was shocked by the sight. Rain was pounding against the closed hatch and Hearth was outside it, soaked to the bone in his old pajamas, shivering as he tried to open the hatch with stiff fingers. Blitz yelped a Norse, scrambling up the ladder. He forced the hatch open a little too quickly and Hearth came tumbling down. Blitz hardly managed to catch him, only managing to slow his decent. Hearth pitched forward, almost sending Blitz careening down with him. Hearth, thankfully, landed back first on their bed. He was soaking the mattress and the blankets, but Blitz couldn't care in the slightest. He was more concerned about his husband.

He slammed the hatch closed before scrambling down the ladder. He jumped the last two rungs, hurrying towards him. "Silly elf," he said, starting to pull at Hearth's clothes and talking so Hearth could read his lips and Blitz could use his hands. He needed to get him out of these soaking wet things. It didn't do to give elves _too_ much water. "My silly elf. How long were you out there in the rain?"

Hearth's long, pale fingers trembled as he signed. _Started raining 10 minutes ago. Couldn't get the hatch open. Sorry_. Blitz heaved a sigh, tugging Hearth's shirt off and sitting him up. "Don't be sorry, cornerstone," he said. "We'll get you in something warm and it'll be all better, yeah?" Hearth nodded, his fingers trembling a little still as he tried to tug down his pants. Before he could, there was a tapping on the hatch. A single black raven was rapping its beak against the glass, looking indignant.

Blitz muttered curses under his breath. "I'll let the damned thing in, get dry clothes on," he told Hearth, kissing his palm before climbing up the ladder again. He barely cracked the hatch before the raven stuck its beak in, threw up a pellet into Blitz' hand, and then fluttered away. Blitz slammed it shut again, opening the pellet when he was down the ladder. He unfurled it, finding a message from Magnus.

_'Sup, guys? How's the Chase Space doing? Good, I hope. And how are you guys? Also good, I bet. Tell the kids I said hey, too. Enough formalities. Is that spelt right? Probably not, but whatever. Can I ask you guys a favor? I promised Sam and Amir I'd chaperone them tonight, but I just heard something's up on your end of town. I couldn't get specifics, just that something's big and bad and smelly down in the sewers. Could you guys check it out? I'd ask Mallory or Halfborn but they disappeared into Halfborn's room two days ago and I'm too scared to go in there, Alex is working on a 'very important project', and TJ just figured about Alexander Hamilton is in Valhalla, so he's kind of geeking out. Tell everyone I said hey again, and thanks for checking out the sewer monster! Love ya._

_Magnus Chase!!!_

Blitz turned to see Hearth sitting back down on the end, freshly dressed but his wet hair still plastered to his head. He sighed softly looking at him. He tucked the letter under his arm before signing, _Magnus wants us to check something out in the sewers. I'll check it out and then swing back and pick up the kids for work. You good here?_

Hearth adamantly shook his head, pouring. _No_ , he signed. _I want to come. Dream... Unsettling. Need to get it out of my head. I want to come_. He left no room for argument because he was already weaving his pink and green checkered scarf around his neck. Blitz shook his head and blew a puff of air from between his lips. "You really are my silly elf, aren't you?" he said. Hearth flashed him a weak smile. _Yes. Yes, I am. But I am your elf. Your cornerstone_. 

Fondness filled Blitz's heart. He crossed the room to kiss him again, but Hearth reached up and held his face, pulled his head down a little to kiss him on the lips. He was a little too warm for Blitz's liking, but the kiss was wonderful. _I love you, Hearth_ , he signed, and Hearth signed back, _I love you, Blitz_. 

Blitz squeezed Hearth's shoulder. They stood up together, heading back downstairs. 

Helena bounded up to them, immediately tarting to sign. Are you okay, Papa H? Hearth smiled a little. I'm okay, little one, he signed back. "We've been called away on business," Blitz announced. "Hearth and I are heading out to take care of some things. I'll be back in time for dinner. You know where the food is if you're hungry or anyone comes asking. I'll see you later, yeah?" The kids hummed in agreement, Helena hugging their legs one at a time. "Good-bye!" she said. 

Hearth smiled again as they made their way outside.


End file.
